I have always wanted true wireless earbuds. Over the past years, I have gone from using Bluetooth earphones connected to a central unit (Sony MW600, Jabra BT3030) to the smaller and less intrusive earbuds (Jaybird BlueBuds X, Plantronics BackBeat GO2, and BackBeat Fit), but there was still a wire somewhere in the design connecting the left and right earbuds together and I wanted it gone. I wasn't alone in that sentiment.

It's this desire that Bragi banked on when it launched its Kickstarter campaign about two years ago, in February 2014. The Dash was promised to be a true wireless set of earbuds that had everything I wanted and more — built-in storage for local music playback, waterproofing for use in pools, and activity tracking and heart rate monitoring. It sounded amazing and I pledged for the $179 early backer tier knowing fully well that the October 2014 delivery date was incredibly optimistic and that I might be throwing my money at a project that may fail eventually. I was willing to take the risk though and pay that much money to dream and help the team achieve that dream.

The Dash was delivered to me more than a month ago, about a year and a half late. I was expecting that kind of delay because the challenges of wireless earbuds are far more complicated than we can comprehend. But what matters is that The Dash was eventually produced and delivered. Is it everything the project creators said it would be? More or less. Is my search for the perfect wireless earbuds over? Far from that. I love my Dash, it works very well most times, but I can't use it because… well, you'll have to read the full review.

Wireless Earbuds: Challenges to Overcome

It's easy to say, "well, you have Bluetooth, take off the wire and make everything communicate without it." The truth of the matter is that this wire makes all the difference in audio transmissions. When a Bluetooth headset receives a message from a phone or other audio source, it transmits the message over the wires to both earbuds and thus you can hear your music from both ears at the same time.

When you take out the wire, the problem becomes that both earbuds have to somehow get the message and play it simultaneously. Your phone can't transmit to both of them, so one of the earbuds has to be able to receive the audio and send it to the other one. Without any latency. And with your head and dense bones in the middle. That's a fantastic riddle if there ever was one.

Other companies, like Earin, attempted to solve the same problem by transmitting the signal through another Bluetooth connection, relying on walls and nearby objects to bounce it to the second ear. They work well indoors, but a lot less reliably outdoors, where the signal will find a lot of trouble reflecting on anything. But outdoors is where these wireless earphones should be perfect to use! Lots of activities would benefit from the freedom of a completely wire-free headset, like running, biking, skiing, or engaging in any physical activity, and so Earin and other earbuds that use the same solution aren't ideal candidates.

The Dash's approach is different. It uses Near Field Magnetic Induction (NFMI) instead of Bluetooth, the same technology that's been employed by hearing aids for over a decade. It's a creative solution and I applaud Bragi's engineers for being smart and enterprising enough to adopt a proven medical technology and adapt it to their use case.

With NFMI, The Dash creates a small bubble around your head where the signal is transmitted, regardless of bones and outside elements. It works indoors and outdoors, it works in the shower and underwater, it works if you cover both ears with your hands, thus squashing the limitations of Bluetooth connectivity.

Packaging, Design, and Build Quality

I've helped crowdfund dozens of projects, but very few gave me the great first impression that Bragi did. You usually expect sloppy packaging, low quality materials, and averagely built and finished products because most times you're paying for the idea and the beta product more than a finalized version. The Dash, however, delivers on its price tag from the moment you hold the box and right until you get to the earbuds.

Very cool packaging!

The packaging unfolds like a hardcover book, where flipping each cardboard page reveals features and instructions about the headset. When you finally get to it, you'll find the two Dash earbuds nested in their charging case. A small box above it houses the additional FitSleeves: The Dash comes fitted with the XS sleeve which is nothing but an eartip, but there are S, M, and L sizes that wrap around the entire unit for better fit in larger ears.

Below the Dash is The Slide (the case's cover), instruction and warranty cards, MicroUSB charging cable, and The Leash which can be used to attach the two earbuds together. Everything from the case to The Dash to the sleeves is nicely designed and very well built. That's an unexpected surprise.

Unboxing The Dash and all of its accessories

The Dash itself has a very understated but still slightly futuristic design, especially with its glowing breathing lights. The outside is a shiny black plastic with a subtle Bragi logo and a microphone opening. There's a hidden indicator light that breathes intermittently while The Dash is charging (red for low battery, yellow for medium, green for high, and blue for full) and when you take it out of the case to let you know that it just turned on. This logo area is also The Dash's touch-sensitive controller. We'll get to that later.

One Dash earbud

The inside is a matte black plastic that curves to get to the eartip. It houses the connectors that charge The Dash from its case, the proximity sensors that detect that it's been placed inside your ear, and the magnet that holds it in place inside the case. That, by the way, is one of my favorite features of The Dash. I don't have to perfectly align the earbuds to put them inside the case and I don't have to worry about them not being connected or charging properly. I just get the general alignment and hold them close and bam, the case attracts them to the right position. Oh and the magnets are strong enough that even if you're holding the case upside down without the cover and you shake it, the earbuds won't fall out. (Warning: try this at your own risk.)

The Charger: A case with precise cutouts and magnetic links

Speaking of the case, it's made from a very sturdy black metal. Don't quote me on it, but I think the inside of the case is stainless steel (it's super light) and the outside cover is anodized aluminum (it's thick and heavy). There's enough place to put The Dash regardless of the FitSleeve you're using, and a MicroUSB port and LED light on the outside. The case isn't just a charger, it's also a portable battery for the Dash, housing about 5 times battery life to charge your earbuds on-the-go without the need for a power outlet. The cover has a single line opening that should allow you to see the breathing lights of The Dash while inside the case. It's all very impressive and well thought-out.

The Slide lets The Dash's breathing light through (left). It has a MicroUSB port with LED (right).

Fitting and Connecting The Dash

The Dash's package and manual explain how to insert it correctly in your ear. Once I learned how to do it, I figured that the XS sleeve was the largest my ears could handle. Now excuse me while I go off on a tangent here...

How to insert The Dash (left). Setting to turn off the lights when wearing it (right).

See, I have small ears, a relatively large tragus, and I tend to get annoyed by most earbuds and headsets. Anything that stretches my tragus or pushes it out is painful for me to wear for a long time. Over the past years, the only earphones I've used are the Sennheiser CX series along with the Plantronics BackBeat Go 2 (they barely go inside and just stick out) and BackBeat Fit (they don't even try to go inside your ear). I've tried LG's QuadBeat earphones, Samsung's in-box earphones, the Lumia 1020's earphones, and I've had different on-ear headphones, and came out with the same impression each time: none of them are comfortable enough for me to wear for a long time. I can only handle the tiniest of tiny in-ear earbuds.

And that's essentially my main problem with The Dash. While the unit is designed to fit over 90% (I don't have the exact number now) of ear shapes and sizes, I happen to fall on the very limit of that. The Dash sits inside my ear, seals the ear canal, and rarely falls out, but it pushes my tragus out, strains my anti-tragus, and stretches the cartilage on my anti-helix. It's painful to wear for more than a few minutes because of this added pressure inside my ear and I feel utterly relieved each time I take it out. That's not an enjoyable experience or feeling and definitely not something you want when you're just trying to listen to music while running or swimming.

You can't see it clearly here, but The Dash strains all of my ear, especially the tragus.

I gave The Dash to my friend to try and she told me she didn't have any of those issues. It felt like a foreign object inside her ear, understandably, but she didn't feel the strain or pain that I was. I wish, I just wish that I was like her and didn't have that problem because otherwise, The Dash would have been great.

Tangent over, and back to using The Dash with your device. There are two different Bluetooth connections on The Dash: Bluetooth Classic for audio (right earbud) and BLE for activity tracking (left earbud).

You tap and hold on the right Dash to make it discoverable and connect it to any phone or computer or Bluetooth transmitting audio device, including smartwatches. You tap and hold on the left Dash to connect it to the Android/iOS app for activity tracking, or to make it visible to apps or smartwatches for heart rate monitoring only. You can connect both Dash earbuds to the same phone or to different devices, and the right Dash will remember up to 8 devices before having to start forgetting one it's paired with. The left Dash, however, is never paired except to Bragi's app. If you're using it with another application like Runtastic or with a smartwatch, you'll have to manually connect it each time.

Connecting the left Dash to the Android app.

However, I had a couple of issues with connecting the left Dash specifically. The first was that I couldn't get it to register as a heart rate monitor with my Garmin Vivoactiv smartwatch. The watch simply never saw The Dash as a sensor.

My Garmin Vivoactiv never found The Dash.

The second is that when I tried connecting the left Dash to Runtastic on my phone, I had to choose the Runtastic HR Combo Monitor option. If I tapped the Other Monitors option, I was taken to my phone's Bluetooth selection screen where the left Dash connection doesn't work (that's where the right one shows up for audio). I had to bypass that screen so I went with the first option and it worked.

Connecting the left Dash to the Runtastic app as a "Runtastic HR Combo Monitor."

The killer feature though is that there's nothing stopping you from using The Dash as just a Bluetooth headset, or as just a heart rate monitor for your watch, or as a local MP3 player and/or activity tracker completely disconnected from any other device. You can even use the right Dash alone as a mono audio headset. That's the kind of versatility that you can expect with it. However, keep in mind that if it's connected to a Bluetooth audio device, you won't be able to access the local music and built-in playlists. You'll have to unpair it or turn off Bluetooth on that device to be able to access the storage.

I know what I'm saying here sounds complicated, and it kind of is and isn't. These two connection methods and the fact that there is local and Bluetooth music mean that there are several options for using The Dash and that you'll have to take a few seconds each time you want to try a new setup to figure out how to get things right.

Thankfully the Bragi app has the full manual available to consult whenever needed.

Touch Interface and Audio Feedback

Because of the lack of buttons and the limited level of visual feedback that the breathing light can provide, The Dash works with a touch interface spread across the middle of each earbud and coupled with audio feedback for each action you perform. This I found to be both intriguing and frustrating.

The packaging/manual as well as the app explain how every gesture equates to a different action on each of the earbuds. Swipe for volume, tap for pause, tap and hold for menus, etc. You'll have to remember these but they make sense so they're not that hard to recall if you forgot them.

Left and right Dash gestures.

When tapping, specifically, there's a certain difference in the audible sound when you hit the correct area of The Dash than when you hit the outer edges or don't tap with enough strength. That helps a lot in getting used to the tap target and force. However, it took me several days to figure out how to double and triple tap because I couldn't get the frequency right. I was either too fast or I was missing the correct area on one of the taps, but I eventually calibrated them to be just right.

When it works, it's awesome and a little futuristic. But the problem with this interface is that you really have to be precise with your gestures. And that isn't ideal when you're walking, running, have a few hairs covering the side of your face, or God forbids swimming. I can get Play/Pause and volume down to register most of the time, but everything else is a hit and miss. I have had to stop my walks and runs just to be able to skip a song and that's not something you want in your everyday music headset.

The other problem is that the touch interface somehow creates lots of false gestures while swimming. Before the last software update, The Dash was literally unusable in the pool because Transparency would randomly activate. That's the feature that opens up the mic and lets you hear ambient sound while running. It didn't let me hear the water, it just made a high pitched striking sound that was just unbearable. Each time that happened, I had to stop my swim and fumble with the touch panel on the left Dash to turn Transparency off. Thankfully, with the latest update, Transparency has been completely disabled in swimming mode, which means that no matter how much it mistakenly registers its gesture, it won't turn it on.

That made swimming with The Dash a lot more tolerable, though not completely enjoyable yet. The other gestures still get triggered - by the water or by my shoulder brushing against the earbud as I swim, I don't know - so music will pause and skip randomly. That sucks. I wish all the gestures were completely disabled while swimming until you take The Dash out of your ear or until you end the activity.

But you have to remember that this is a first generation product in a new category. It isn't an excuse, but an explanation. Part of me applauds the work the team has done but they still have a lot of quirks to iron out. Each firmware update, and there have been frequent ones, introduces improved touch recognition and squashes some bugs. It's getting better, which is a good thing, but I doubt it'll ever be completely frustration-free.

Checking for software updates is done inside the app, but installing them requires a PC.

Range, Sound Quality, and Battery Life

One issue The Dash faces that regular Bluetooth headsets don't is reception, and that's basically a product of its design. Being lodged inside your ear means that a direct line of sight to your phone or watch or whatever device you're using to generate the sound is a lot more difficult to achieve. On and over-ear Bluetooth headsets are far outside of your head, the Plantronics Backbeat GO and Jaybird Bluebuds series stick out a little from your ears, but The Dash sits right inside where bones and flesh can interfere with the signal's reception.

I can easily listen to music at over 15m of distance between my phone and The Dash if the right side of my head (the right Dash is the one that receives audio) is facing the phone. But if I turn a little bit away, the signal starts getting weak. Some users are having issues with connectivity with their phones in their pants pockets, others are reporting them when connected to a smartwatch worn on their left wrist. I didn't face that many problems on my unit. Reception has been fairly solid when I'm just walking or running and I'm loosely keeping a direct line of sight between the right Dash and my phone.

Connecting the right Dash to my Huawei Watch for music streaming.

As for sound quality, I wouldn't call it outstanding nor would I diss it. Audiophiles aren't the target market for The Dash, and if you're one then you shouldn't be looking here. This is a Bluetooth headset, packed in a little in-ear unit, with tons of gadgetery and sensors, and that is aimed at the active types who want decent sound and freedom of movement while exercising. It isn't a studio headset, it isn't a sit-down-and-chill kind of headset, and it shouldn't be judged as such.

That being said, I didn't notice any distortion with The Dash and, from the point of view of a user who just enjoys music, I found the audio quality great. I mostly listen to popular alternative, pop, country, and jazz music and I didn't find any difference or annoyance with those genres on The Dash. I'm sure some users will get nitpicky about highs and mids and lows, but the average listener won't be able to say anything beside the fact that it sounds great to their regular human ears.

Bragi says that with a 100mAh battery, The Dash will last about 4 hours on music streaming alone, or 3 hours when streaming music with activity tracking. I couldn't tell you if this claim is accurate because there's no way on earth I can wear it for such a long time (see above part with my ear and tragus strain problem). The charging case is supposed to charge The Dash 5 times. What I can confirm is that The Dash and the case last me more than a couple of weeks with sporadic use. If I was a little more consistent, I suspect I'd have to fully charge the case each week.

The Sum of All the Parts

Over the past month or so that I've had The Dash, I've tested dozens of different scenarios, from playing local music (it shows up as a regular USB drive when connected to a computer and has 4 preset Playlist folders you can dump music into) to Bluetooth streaming from my phone or my watch, to activity tracking while connected or not to my phone or Runtastic, to taking phone calls on it, to swimming with it, to using it with/without The Leash, and so on.

The main takeaway is that everything mostly works. I love the freedom that The Dash provides. It's a lot less intrusive than any other Bluetooth headset I've used and a lot easier to manage thanks to the included case that doubles for charging. No more wires hitting the back of your neck as you run, or getting tangled in your clothes or with the equipment at the gym. It's all very relieving and a little unusual. Oh and I also dig the build quality and design of these buds - I can't stress enough how beautiful and well made they are.

There's also a certain satisfaction you feel each time you take The Dash out of its case or put it back in. The magnetic pull and the click sound you hear work as a great feedback mechanism. Even if removed from the case, The Dash won't actually turn on unless the proximity sensor detects that you've inserted it in your ear. And when you take The Dash out of your ear, it turns back into standby mode (which you can instantly notice by the audio pausing). That adds a bit to the magic of the headset.

Those are the proximity sensor and magnets on both Dash earbuds.

NFMI is a great solution to the inter-earbud signal transmission problem. Audio doesn't lag between the right and left Dash, and I had zero connection issues between the two, despite my thick head being in the middle. The most mind-blowing audio experience is when you swim with The Dash. The music becomes a lot more vivid, maybe thanks to the water sealing in a lot of the outside noise, and I didn't have any problems with audio going from one ear to the other, even when doing laps and flipping underwater. I can attest to The Dash's water-resistant rating, at least on my unit.

The touch panel works, except when it doesn't because of my hair getting in the way or because I have to stop moving and be precise with my gesture. Controlling playback, choosing local playlists, answering phone calls or initiating new ones with Google Now works just as well (you tap and hold on the right Dash to trigger Google Now). But again, if any gesture requires a bit of precision, I have to be still or have perfect coordination between my head and hand to hit the right area on The Dash.

The breathing lights are super cool. They're probably my favorite feature of The Dash and I love how they synchronize between both earbuds when you insert them into the charging case.

The Dash's breathing light spreads across the earbuds and retracts every few minutes.

Swimming with it was a lesson in torture when Transparency was getting activated randomly. Now that it's off, it's more tolerable except that the frequent random pauses and skips that I talked about earlier remain and they're annoying. I also had a problem once with an earbud getting loose and starting to fall in the water. I wasn't wearing The Dash with the Leash then and I immediately grabbed it before it sunk too low. That's also not something I want to worry about when swimming. And finally, when you go a little lower than the pool's surface (say about 0.7m deep when pushing off the wall during flips), the music's volume goes low and deep until you reach the surface again. I guess it has to do with the water's pressure playing tricks with the NFMI transmission. You can get used to this effect, but the first two problems don't make it a good choice for serious swimmers who don't want anything distracting them from their laps.

The Leash keeps the two Dash earbuds together. It's tight but it fits with them inside the case.

Activity tracking with The Dash is very barebones. After taking a couple of days to figure out how to double tap to switch between running, cycling, and swimming (why that isn't possible inside the app boggles my mind), I realized that they were all pretty useless for now. Yes, you get duration, steps, and heart rate when running, but nothing is saved once the session is done. Bragi says this is for privacy reasons, but I suspect it's more about the logistics of setting up accounts and saving and synchronizing data. Whatever it is, the end result is that you'll simply get an audio summary when you finish an activity and that's it. That's made even more pointless by the fact that swimming and cycling don't count steps (logically), just the heart rate and duration.

Beside waterproofing, the best feature of The Dash when you're active is Transparency. A swipe on the left earbud toggles it on and off, letting you hear your surroundings clearly or block them out as much as possible. The Dash is also supposed to handle macros for certain movements while being worn, but they're limited to phone call reception now and I couldn't test them because I never got a call while wearing the headset.

Overall, my whole experience with The Dash was a mixed bag of positives and negatives. I can get accustomed to the connection limitations and make sure there's more or less a direct line-of-sight between it and my phone or watch. I can learn to be more precise with the touch interface. I can handle reconnecting the left Dash to Runtastic before each run to track my heart rate. I can use it only for recreational swimming and not when doing laps to avoid frustrations. I can get used to a lot of the limitations, but the one thing I can't compromise on is comfort.

And The Dash, unfortunately, is painful for me to wear even with the XS eartip. I've tested it with a few different friends and none of them reported a problem, but I had to have those silly tiny ears that can't handle The Dash's strain and that try to push it out every few minutes. I can't possibly have to worry about my headset sliding out of my ear every few minutes when running or swimming, and I can't enjoy any activity if all I feel is pressure inside my ears instead of music pumping me up.

Different FitSleeve sizes: XS, S, M, L (left). Left Dash with S sleeve, right one with XS (right).

The weird thing is that the greatest things about The Dash, the ones that work well and don't cause any issues, are the least marketable features: local music storage is better than streaming because you don't have to worry about Bluetooth reception, the music aspect is several folds more useful than the activity tracking capability, and the waterproofing is very solid.

The Dash's headlining features though are its weaknesses: Bluetooth requires special positioning to not drop out, activity tracking is so limited for now, and the touch interface is as frustrating as it is cool when running or swimming. By trying to do too much, Bragi ended up adding more problems than solving them.

The Dash, however, sold me on the idea of true wireless earbuds. And you just know that the market will soon be flooded with them. Samsung is working on a very similar pair called the Gear IconX, and dozens of other manufacturers have already produced theirs or launched crowdfunding campaigns for them (Earin, Kanoa, NextEar, Phazon, etc...). The Dash, as it stands now, is probably the most interesting of all the available products in this category, and maybe the best executed.

I can't use this Dash though, so I'll be keeping an eye on a second version that could be smaller or more ergonomic (and maybe less pricey with no activity tracking). But I wouldn't mind recommending it if you have the dough and know what you're getting into: a first generation product with some limitations, some frustrations, and a dash of magic.

Comments

TechGuy22

fugly

Stoneule

I must admit that true wireless earbuds are a dream of mine too. I don't necessarily need the extra bells and whistles that the Dash offers, but as soon as we drastically battery life across all mobile devices and i can up toward 20 hrs listening time without needing to recharge I'll be first in line. Untill then, over the ears will work just fine.

deepdvd

Great review!

Shawn Lee

Would you buy the dash over the Bluebuds x if ear size wasn't a problem?
And could you comment on the audio quality compared to the bluebuds as well.

Honestly, I find both a little overpriced for their features. The Bluebuds sound a little better to me but they aren't water-resistant and I loved the Dash underwater. So I guess, *I* would go with the Dash if ear size wasn't a problem, others should go with the Bluebuds if water-resistance is not needed and the price is acceptable to them. Anyone on a tight budget should consider the Backbeat Go2. They have the same design as the Bluebuds, are cheaper, but only connect to one device and have shorter battery life.

Milton P.

I'm a bit worried about those things giving people some brain damage, to be honest.

It's been quite a long time since I had the need for BT headphones or headphones at all, the speakers in my office, my house and my car do the job just fine.

I don't need them indeed, but other people do and I'm really worried about those who need them and the radiation those things are shooting straight to their brains through the ears, that's all I can say.

I'm not trying to be pedantic. Or maybe I am, who knows...

ohshaith55

might wanna look up pedantic as a refresher.

Jeffrey Michaud

There is a big difference between ionizing and non ionizing radiation. Non Ionizing cant do diddly to anything because it doesn't have enough energy to damage the Atoms of the interfering matter. The power level of Bluetooth is also several magnitudes smaller than what your WiFi router puts out, the nearest cell phone tower, or the microwave. You get several times more ionizing radiation flying on a plane for an hour then you could ever get from using a cell phone or blue-tooth headset for your entire life.

Eating Bananas has a higher radiation then a cellphone. So if your gonna worry about that you will need to live in a lead lined box, to be safe from all the naturally occurring radiation that is actually harmful.

The higher you fly the less of a layer of earths magnetic field can protect you from charged particles. Lots of radiation sources have a charge so the magnetism deflects them away. The effect is more pronounced the further you are from the equator.

This review as about as spot on as it can get, you touched on all the critical points...too bad it't too big for your ears though.

I've had it for about a month now and have no real complaints about except for the random connection issues due to the line of sight with the right dash, otherwise it's a great product, especially considering its the first of its kind

skillfulshoe

I also have small ears and normal earbuds either don't fit or are extremely painful. The only thing I found that fits snugly and didn't hurt are Klipsch's earbuds. Maybe you should try them out!

For now I'm super happy with my Sennheiser CX, Backbeat Go2, and Backbeat Fit. Thanks for the rec, though. I'll keep then in mind the next time I'm earbud shopping.

Lincoln Hawk(s)

I'm not sure I'd want to get rid of the wire on in ear bluetooth headphones such as the BlueBuds X even if I could. They don't fall out a lot, but when they do, I don't have to worry about them hitting the ground and becoming lost or damaged by something in my environment.

Also, if you set wireless headphones down without a wire connecting the earpieces, you've suddenly got two tiny objects you can lose much easier

When I was in school, what I wanted very badly was a tiny wireless in-ear bluetooth earpiece to play notes or formulas on a loop with text to speech during exams. I probably never would have used it, but just to know it was available would have been a good feeling. If we ever see say even a 2X reduction in the current size of batteries, test proctors will have to walk around class rooms looking for people with tiny receivers in their ears.

I failed to explain clearly here. It's more about the material's feel and thickness. But yeah, I later found some official word from Bragi saying that those are the materials used.

SetiroN

Steel is denser than aluminium thus 5g of steel must be heavier than 30g if alu. 🤓

demarcmj

I wish there were more options for those of us who want in-ear but not in-ear-canal, also referred to as "unsealed." I hate jamming things into my ears and don't really like isolating myself from the world either.

Dimitris Kanellopoulos

That's why they have audio transparency. So that you don't feel isolated when needed and isolate when needed.

demarcmj

Yea it's nice that some of these sealed headphones offer workarounds like that... but I still just wish there were more simple unsealed options.

Dimitris Kanellopoulos

But that is the point! We need sealing! They are not workarrounds.

demarcmj

Not everyone needs or wants sealing is my point. Obviously there aren't enough of us... or there would be more options for us.

Grey_Starr

Try AfterShokz!! they are awesome imho. and I get to try a LOT of different tech to compare it by. Nothing goes in or over your ear.

Dimitris Kanellopoulos

How the hell would you even try to think that the Garmin devices support BLE sensors?
To put it simple: The Dash is a BLE sensor device and Garmin will never support BLE for sensor data. They have ANT+ and it's a war zone to support only that technology!

Hah! You are so right. How could I even forget about ANT+? I was using my Vivoactiv with a Bluetooth HR strap (that was also ANT+ and connected through that obviously), so it slipped my mind that the Vivoactiv connects to phones via BLE but to sensors only via ANT+. Thanks for correcting me. Now I know why it doesn't work.

Dimitris Kanellopoulos

No worries! It's always confusing with these 2 techs. Actually it would be great if garmin supported BLE sensors!

Helensmurphree3

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Doug J

Maybe not all sensors, but the Garmin Edge cycling computers support BT and BLE. Both used when connecting to iPhones.

Dimitris Kanellopoulos

Actually NOT ALL sensors that are BLE and BT. They use BT and BLE to Only connect to phones.

woodss

I'll buy your Dash if you can't use them Rita.

drcaveman

Kind of looks like the in the ear hearing aids I wear. Which By the way next time I get new hearing aids I am getting the bluetooth ones.

well considering those chibi things it is a lot, but if anything I'd rather have headphones (ya know those with that thing I dont know how to call in english over the head) with a microSD slot, or just a cable to my phone as my phone music library is huge, according to solid explorer 63,78GB

unless your software for showing the size uses the same "GB" the sticks and other stuff use (a billion bytes, by the way I label them as GB[10] because based on the decimal system) instead of "real" Gigabytes, also called GiB by certain software it should be full soon becuse 264 GB[10]=245GB and then you have system+apps+pictures+other overhead. but stll that's not bad.

I have a LOT of videos on my phone so I cant just give it all my space and one of the problems here in Germany is that unless we aare talking about a phone that isnt expandable (iphone or s6 series) you usually only can get the lowest storage in stores which makes it annoying there are higher versions of phones like the Note 2,3 and 4 with 64 storage iirc but you cant get them here.

but there is the problem that when you buy from far away that you have to do taxes and stuff and then Samsung has region locking (for initial activation, according to their statement)

Влатко Стојанов

It's OK but not more than enough. That's around 400 mp3 320

JW

No surprise all the big brands are copying their idea and coming out with similar products. For those few successful crowd fund projects like this, the big challenge is that. Or positively, if they patent the idea, may be that would be more valuable than the real sales of the product? For consumers, it's hard not to pick a comparable product from a reputable brand instead of a no name startup.

Dastardly✓ᵛᵉʳᶦᶠᶦᵉᵈ ᵉᵛᶦˡ

Hmm..just an idea but I think those earbuds might be getting the approval to strain your ears from those earrings of your so perhaps you'd like to try them on again and this time, if you happen to have a couple of ones that says NO instead. 😂

But on a more serious note those earbuds do look extremely strenuous, heck even I'm starting to have sympathy pains by just looking at them.

I've had them since February and while I really enjoy the prospect of wireless earphones my main complaint is the Bluetooth coverage when walking outside. If I'm sitting on the train or anywhere indoors I can comfortably leave my phone in my pocket but outdoors in NYC or NJ I have to hold my phone in my hands to be in the optimal Bluetooth zone otherwise you will hear constant cut outs. Now I know this might be common for Bluetooth Headphones but I've had others where the range was considerably more and I would never have to compensate by taking my phone out of my pocket. Ah well we are getting there.

roberto.elena

Well, I won't be needing wireless earbuds until they create the AI assistant from Her (the movie), so they have plenty of time to improve their technology.

Alex

How does the feeling compare to the original Bluebuds X? Those really hurt my ears for a long time, but I think that my ears have been reshaped by them, now (I used to wear them for 5 to 6 hours at a time when cycling). That's probably not good!

It's very different. The Dash doesn't just go inside your ear canal, it also lodges inside your outer ear and pushes against the cartilage there. That's a different feeling.

Jatin

The weirdest part i got here is that Bluetooth Earbuds getting Software updates. Its really cool though where we struggle getting updates on our phones now-a-days.

Soon we will have CyanogenMod Nightlies for Bluetooth Smart Tech XD

It would be lovely to take my Xperia Z3+ underwater paired with these earphones. The only thing we need is an smart oxygen mask. The Smart Oxygen mask again powered by CM. I can imagine the scene where a buggy nightly would cause the mask to malfunction and choke its user to death.

Soon we Audio Lovers can start living underwater. Far away from this noisy world. Good to hear that these earbuds are truely waterproof. A couple of others i used, got shorted underwater or used to have serious noise.

Thanks :) The only problem with your futuristic theory is that afaik, Bluetooth doesn't transmit well underwater.

Jatin

Technology will find a way out. Just a matter of time. Even true wireless earphones were just in theory a few years ago.

Can we have Wifi Headphones? Wifi seems to work under water.
And i read about "Passive Wifi" Tech.
Ultra low power wifi powering earbuds are a possibility. Time will Tell!!!

minkiu

If I ever get 300€ to spare I'l definitely get them!

BoFiS

Still super happy with my Earins, don't need activity tracking or LEDs on my earbuds, and prefer the smaller size.

Adam

I recall seeing this on Kickstarter several years ago when it was asking for funding. I'll admit, I didn't think they would deliver; I looked at the claims they were making and had quite a good laugh Quirks aside, I'll give them props for delivering pretty much what they promised. Like Rita said, the second generation will probably be much better.

I may have been super lucky, but I've backed over 30 KS projects and all of them delivered either good or great products. Some were super small an inexpensive items, others were in The Dash's caliber. I usually do a lot of research before backing something, set low expectations, and basically gamble when I feel it's worth it.

JeffT

I've had mine for a little while as well... I find the gestures a little unresponsive. For the single click I basically have to pound it with my finger and leave it there. I'm used to trackpads, where a tap is very light... not so with mine.

The wireless connectivity for me is the real deal breaker in this situation. I absolutely cannot put it in my pants pocket either inside or out as I get too many dropouts. I've heard that it makes a difference based on what phone you have... Some have reported that Sony and HTC phones are the best, while LG phones are the pits. My LG-made Nexus 5 would seem to agree.The BT antenna is on the back plate of my phone and is incredibly tiny. With this situation I can't see myself using them, pretty much ever. If I'm wearing a backpack, I can hang it from the strap, but in the summer, that's unlikely. Sadness...

Majeed Hamid

Is cool but the sony sbh54 too is a cool wireless even though u have to have some small wire ear bugs Connect to it and it do have standalone radio . firmware updates comes every now and then .

I stopped wearing mine after a few weeks. They just wouldn't connect... like ever. It got so frustrating I ended up tossing them into a drawer and listened to music the old fashioned way: on my Turntable.

Sean Vincent

so with regard to saving heart rate or other activity tracking data, does the app sync with Google Fit?

If Runkeeper can receive HR data from the left bud and Runkeeper is synching with Google Fit, will the data pass through from the bud to Google Fit?

Another app worth trying is Sports Gear Tracker. It would be interesing to hear if SGT will pass HR data through to Google Fit.

Thanks for the great review. I've had these buds on my birthday wish list and I'm very interested in getting them!

I hope someone can answer this. I use Runtastic, not Runkeeper, and I can't for the life of me wear these for the length of a run to check that out. Common sense though says that if the data is in Runkeeper, it should sync to Fit, regardless of where it came from.

Question: How loud is the transparency mode? I saw in the picture above you can control the volume but can you control the transparency volume separate from the music volume?

This is important to me cause I'm hard of hearing so I'd like to be able to have music in the background and the transparency turned up a little bit. I'm not legally deaf or anything like that, would just be neato to have this feature. Thanks Rita!

Thanks for the review, Rita! Very insightful :)
They seem very cool and futuristic, and I really would love to listen to my music while swimming, but the price it just too high for the few compromises they sadly have.
Anyway, hoping for an improved version 2!

Muadz

I TOTALLY agree with this review.

Unfortunately, we have or the same 10% with misshapen ear to fit in The Dash comfortably.

And what's more frustrating is the HR monitoring as the KS campaign clearly show their app having the ability to directly monitor, record and select the activities (actually this is the first time I heard they use 'privacy' as an excuse). And Bagi had an extra 1 year++ to finish up their app. All this while Bagi only updated us on their manufacturing issue, but apparently chose to keep quite on the software progress update.

The main selling point I bought their product is because of the HR monitoring. As they have not kept up their end of the bargain, I should've just bought Jaybird or similar.

To their credit, when I asked for a refund last week, they still allow it even though it's after 15 days 'trial' period (I disagree with this because for me 'Day 1' has not evn started since Bragi themselves didn't kept their end of the bargain as per KS campaign when they ship The Dash out). I'm still not sure to proceed with the refund yet because when I received the product, I still have to pay an additional ~USD35 duty to customs (I signed up for the US219 KS offer).

The review is very spot on with my experience with the Dash... I too have very tiny ears and often have issues with earbuds but was so in love with the idea of these, I decided to back it on KS. And indeed they are a struggle for me to wear, not only do my ears hurt after wearing them but the design is such that my ears tend to push them out as you describe, so I have to keep pushing them back in. I love the idea of wearing them to go swimming but I can't imagine them staying in, but I do enjoy wearing them in the shower! Maybe someday they can make a mini version for people like us!

Bootleg Zani

This is true if their is a building on either side of you they work properly. Any open area is constant cut outs and I have to hold my phone in my hand. The last software update has made it much more usable. I just thought Bluetooth range could be longer. Ah well it is a start.

Kjell Gunnar R. H.

It helps much if you are using mobile phone holders on your riight arm when you are walking, running and cycling. With the upcoming Apple Iphone 7 you must using Beats wireless headphones and true wireless earphones that communicate with their own new standard Lightning. Apple kicking out all other earphones from the summer 2016, also the Bluetooth standard. Apple bought up and owns Beats and therefore the audio company has totally monopoly. The new Iphone 7 is totally waterproof and all things must be wireless and must using magnetic recharging.

poncho

Work even better if you strap your phone to your head (right side). Then you've got almost no reception problems with the Dash.

Ank K

Hey, I've just come across your review. I finally received my Dash after months of patient waiting (and saving) and was so looking forward to finally get it. I just LOVE the overall idea of the Dash. I'm so bummed that I may have to return them..my ears are too small, I just can't get a good snug fit, which I don't trust for may main purpose: exercise. Your review is a little older, have you come across any other wireless ear buds that are smaller? Unfortunately, the Samsung Gear Icon X don't work with Apple devices and all the other fall extremely short in terms of features (damn, I wanted to take them swimming). I really really want to keep as I love the functionality and everything around them already...but to compromise for $300 doesn't feel right, especially as I may not be able to use them as intented

hmudesign

Hi Rita, thanks very much for the review, I feel its pretty spot on, even though I only had mine for a week or so. I did read a lot of reviews etc. before buying, thinking I could live with the some of the short comings, working around them and hoping some of the issues would be ironed out by firmware updates. Anyway, this might come a bit late, but have you ever considered sacrificing one of your fit selves by cutting them up by hand, a bit smaller at a time, until they fit your ear canal? Might be worth the shot for you. Another way might be to buy replacement parts from other vendors earphones that fit your ear canal and trying to fit them to your Bragi using silicon or such. Let me know if you'd want to try some of those out, I could probably give you a hand. Anyway thanks for the article.

Thanks for the comment. Just saw it. Actually, my main problem with the Dash wasn't with the part that went into my ear canal, but the large part that rests inside my ear. It was causing way too much pressure. So even with the smallest FitSleeve (the one that's just an ear tip), I felt pain. I would need the Dash itself to be smaller for it to work for me. Oh well... I ended up giving them to a friend who uses them a lot more than I do and doesn't have an issue with their size.

hmudesign

Oh good for you but probably frustrating for your friend. I ended up sending mine back across the ocean for a refund. I thought I would be able to live with the some of the shortcomings and I really tried to live with them but in the end they sucked big time. I really wanted them to work, and I disregarded all them negative reviews and decided to try for myself and I really did give them a try. The original promise was so awesome and the product looked really good but that's where it ended. You are better off without them anyway.